Calendar Class of July 23, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

Carpe Papilio! This gorgeous giant swallowtail spent some time with us on the beach today while it was drying its impressive wings after emerging from the cocoon. This butterfly has just undergone a "complete metamorphis" and requires a few hours to adjust to its new, glorious state before getting down to the busy business of eating and egg laying. The four part life cycle of butterflies and their miraculous annual migration is endlessly fascinating and a beautiful metaphor for the four cycles of life studies, which is our scholé's attempt to understand and articulate the life cycle of a human being, divided into four quarter age stages. Read more about it in the natural cycle lesson below!

Liturgical: Wednesday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time

Matthew 13:1-9

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables...

Sanctoral: Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – July 23, 1373)

Today the Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Bridget (1302-1373), patron saint of Sweden. She married a young prince and lived happily with him for 28 years, bearing him eight children. St. Catherine of Sweden was their daughter. After her husband died, Bridget founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior, erecting at Vadstena a double monastery for monks and nuns. Following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, she later went to Rome, where she worked for the return of the Popes from Avignon. She died of natural causes in 1373, at the age of seventy-one. This Scandinavian mystic is famous for her Revelations concerning the sufferings of our Redeemer.

Bridget’s visions, rather than isolating her from the affairs of the world, involved her in many contemporary issues, whether they be royal policy or the years that the legitimate Bishop of Rome lived in Avignon, France. She saw no contradiction between mystical experience and secular activity, and her life is a testimony to the possibility of a holy life in the marketplace.

She is the Patron Saint of Europe.

Human: Happy Birthday to the first of the four, Monica Rachel Gabriela Kirk Carman!

Natural: 4 part life cycle of a citrus swallowtail butterfly; the 4 seasons of a human life, as described by Keats and from a Catholic perspective. Also, the 4 stages of development of the human brain- Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood.

Also: What Vegetables and Fruit Should Be Refrigerated?

Also: How to Start a Raised Herb Garden

Italian: Vigneto (vineyard)

Quote: "Keep in mind that Jesus himself, in person, is the seed sown. Jesus is the Logos that wants to take root in us. This seed is sown far and wide, through all sorts of means, but in you, let the seed be sown deep, where it can’t be stolen, scorched, or choked."

From today's Gospel reflections by Bishop Barron

Also: The Human Seasons

By John Keats

Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;

There are four seasons in the mind of man:

He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear

Takes in all beauty with an easy span:

He has his Summer, when luxuriously

Spring's honied cud of youthful thought he loves

To ruminate, and by such dreaming high

Is nearest unto heaven: quiet coves

His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings

He furleth close; contented so to look

On mists in idleness—to let fair things

Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook.

He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,

Or else he would forego his mortal nature.